Encouragement Needed

Just learning to swim is a huge accomplishment!  I have the same feelings about a race I'm doing in a week and a half (finish last).

Just starting the race is far more than most people will EVER do.  You're on the same course as everyone else, no one cares if it takes you 1 hr or 4 hrs.  The most important thing is that you have fun doing it (or at least after you finish).  You might go through a whole host of "why am I out here" thoughts while you're racing, but the important feeling is the one you feel right after you cross the finish line and realize what you've accomplished.

Go rock that race and you never know, you might just surprise yourself!

How about these?

1) Even if you're the last in the tri, you at least did the tri. Do you know how many people are too lazy to haul themselves away from the TV??? Go you!

2) You're only racing against yourself! That's it.

Elishia

x2

Just remind yourself that you are doing something that most people wouldn't even consider doing and so whatever happens at your first race you should be really proud of yourself.

DFL > DNF > DNS

(Dead Freakin Last > Did Not Finish > Did Not Start)

That seems to be the motto around here.  I also have my first tri coming up this weekend, and I am fully ready to possibly be last place.  I just think to myself..."hey, you gotta start somewhere."  You can also think that even though you finished last, you did it, and you finished it...so you actually finished way ahead of all the people sitting at home on their couches.

First triathlons are often a huge mental block for many athletes. It sounds like your head is on straight. Hopefully you've learned through training just how much you can push yourself without blowing up. Good luck!!

Matt Cazalas
Technical Writer

network cables

Carole Sharpless said one time (someone has it as their quote, and I'm paraphrasing)

DFL > DNF > DNS > sitting on the couch on my butt

You kick for having the courage to try at all.  How many people never even make it off of the couch?  Who cares if you are last, you will still be a triathlete!

How about this, "I just finished a friggin' triathlon! take that all you couch potatoes!".

If you're not on the podium (andI never will be) it really doesnt matter where you finish.

You will set a PR  (personal record) regardless.

Next time, and there will be a next time, you will again set a PR.

Look at it as establishing a baseline. This is where you are now. Your time (whatever it is) will motivate you to work harder for the next one. 

GOOD LUCK!!!! 

There's nothing wrong with being last.  It gives you a starting point, and lets you assess how you perform in race conditions.  Plus you had to gain an entire new skill set even to compete, which means the chances of improving your time next race is very good. Speaking as someone who is consistently BOP, there is always room to get better. 

Imagine if you are weren't last, but next to last.  Then you'd be saying "well, I only beat that one person; I really want to be more in the middle of the BOP".  But all the BOPers are hoping to get into MOP. Who are hoping to get to FOP.  Who are gunning for the person who finishes first.  Who could be thinking "I could have had a better time if only...."

The real race is the one in your head.  And when you finally cross the finish line, you will have won that race. And if for some reason you end up DNF, there's always another race.  That's the great thing about this.

20 days?  Start recruiting someone who'll be slower than you

When you cross the finish line, you want to be proud of the accomplishment which comes from: 
I committed to the race
I trained for the race
I showed up at the start line prepared
I gave it everything I had during the race. 

How would you feel if you finished third, but knew you hadn't given it your best effort? 

You won't be last.  Up ahead of you will have been someone who quit.  Not someone who got hurt and had to drop out, but someone who decided that their best that day isn't going to be impressive enough and so they gave up.  Someone who instead of finishing and missing a PR or age-group place just gives up.  You'll have beaten them

I think you have answered your own question.  I DNF'd in my third tri, what I would have given to finish last.  Be first, be last, whatever, run your race, celebrate your achievement with your friends and family.  Then, the next day, get up and start training for your next race.  Good luck!

You're already a winner despite whatever place you come in.  Why, because you set a goal and followed through.  Also, the goal you set, IMHO, was HUGE.  How many adults who never learned to swim as kids actually have the guts to get in the pool and learn to swim AND THEN... go compete in a triathlon?!?!!! Not too many.  So celebrate your achievement(s) and then set the bar a bit higher for the next, and the next and the next....

I was told this once when I was starting medical school:

Do you know what they call the person who graduates last in their class from medical school? ...Doctor

Do you know what they call the person who finishes last in the the triathlon?...A TRIATHLETE!!!

That alone is more than what most people will ever do in their life.  As you said the friends you have there will simply be in awe that you went from a non-swimmer to a triathlete! 

Learning to swim is a huge accomplishment--especially as an adult. 

Finishing a tri...no matter the distance is more than most folks do.  Be proud and wear the distinction of DFL if that is the case. The crowds cheer the last finishers more than the early ones cause ther's more folks waiting...and you all have "heart" to finish what you started.

Relax and have fun, that's what makes it all worth while.